The present invention relates to the recapping of tires; more particularly, it proposes a new method of removing the tread from tires, that is to say, a new method of removing a worn tread before recapping.
Tires have a crown reinforcement, generally arranged above the carcass ply of the tire. More and more frequently these crown reinforcements have a reinforcement arranged at zero angle, that is to say, oriented in the circumferential direction of the tire so as to constitute a hoop. The latter may be arranged either over the entire width of the crown of the tire or over a part thereof, for instance over the side edges. It is possible to develop these zero-degree reinforcements in various ways. For example, a ply is produced, the width of which corresponds to the width of the zero-degree reinforcement, by winding in one or more turns and forming a splice by a slight superpositioning of the circumferential ends of the ply. Another technique consists in using a strip comprising a plurality of parallel cords, for instance ten, and winding this strip until obtaining the desired reinforcement.
A zero-degree reinforcement can also be formed from a single cord which is wound on the crown of the tire in order to produce the desired reinforcement. In these latter two cases, the cord is not placed exactly at zero degree since there is a very small angle corresponding to the laying pitch of the cord. However, it is customary to speak of all these embodiments as having a zero degree angle.
In the present description, the expression "cord" is to be understood in the very broadest sense; a reinforcement cord is formed either by a single cord or by an assembly constituting a cable, or by any equivalent type of assembly, and this whatever the nature of the cord.
Before proceeding with the recapping of a tire, it is necessary to remove what remains of the tread which has been used. In order to remove the tread, one effects a machining operation with a cutting tool until freeing the carcass of the tire from any trace of tread rubber. This operation is well known to those skilled in the art.